Feature Article 2

TORONTO, FEB 10, 2020 – This winter starts with the beauty of lights in its fourth year called the Toronto light fest. The city’s largest light festival is known for its exciting way of illuminating the lights, forming an open art gallery on the streets of the Distillery Historic District in the cold and dark winter days, starting from Jan 17, 2020, to Mar 1, 2020.

The idea of the light festival is a visual journey for the visitors to encourage closeness and togetherness, bringing families and friends together bundled in warm clothes and happy smiles to enjoy the warmth of lights in a distinct art concept. Every year number of local and international light artists display their work to inspire, educate or put a smile on people’s faces; every corner glow with light from the entrance to the end.

With the various cafes, restaurants and gift shops in the district, people taste the smoothness of chocolate from SoMa chocolate maker, try different cuisines and buy gifts in an antique shop with the softness of the lights on the cold lane. As said by Sean Soroka, a visitor on one of the coldest days of this month, “I can see the winter vibe to it, and the show must go on even if it’s super cold.”

Toronto Light Festival sponsors also offer tour packages for the visitors; the cost is $49 + HST for the tour length of 75 – 90 minutes and can be booked on the website. It usually takes place between Wednesday – Saturday with the option of booking other days too if it is made available. At the beginning of the tour, visitors are offered hot beverages with a guide who walks them around, showing and explaining different light art sculptures and tasting samples from local chocolate factories and breweries, served on the wooden cabins outside. You can also enjoy a showcase of performances on the street with a new one every day. It is very well known as the new photography spot till it stays, with a hashtag of their #tolightfest, which has also been one of the most trending hashtags on Twitter and Instagram, inspiring people to post 100s of posts every day.

In the light of many immigrants and tourists of Canada, I had a chance to interview a newbie of Toronto, Mimoh Sharma, asking about their first time in the fest and the city itself, to which he said, ”I love that everyone has been so warm and welcoming.” He also said that the fest had been a new experience of life and the environment was beautiful. To end our conversation, I asked if he would want to suggest any changes for the event, and he said, “ I want them to add more art in the empty spots instead of leaving it as it is, but overall, they did an amazing job.”